Doha, Qatar – It’s time to start partying again. Peace — or something like it — has returned to the Middle East. Bring out the party favors. Let the alcohol flow. Crank the music in the marble towers of Saudi Arabia. The suits are back in the room, and the deals are flowing smoother than the oil.
The dust of war is starting to settle, and there’s plenty of finger-pointing to go around. The world blames Israel — rightfully — for the horrific scenes burned into our memories from Gaza. Over 60,000 dead, millions of Palestinian’s displaced, hundreds of thousands buried alive, and starvation not seen since WWII.
All at the hands of Israel. Their planes. Their tanks. Their drones. Their missiles. Their war.
“I watched babies pulled from rubble like broken toys,” said Patrice Hammond, 36, a pharmacist from Cincinnati. “And we’re supposed to pretend it’s justified? Israel dropped the bombs. Israel flattened the homes. That’s genocide. Call it what it is.”
“Sixty six thousand dead and counting, and they’re still blaming everyone but themselves,” said Jamal Deen, 41, a barber in Detroit. “This ain’t defense. This is mass murder. And every leader who helped them do it has blood on their hands too.”
But is it all Israel’s fault?
Who else stood by?
Shouldn’t Saudi Arabia also bear responsibility?
In 2020, the world was glued to CNN’s and ABC’s Covid tracker. While nations begged for ventilators and fought over face masks, a quiet photo op changed the course of the Middle East.
Behind closed doors — and behind the noise of COVID — The Abraham Accords were signed.
Israel shook hands with the monarchs of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and The UAE. Cameras flashed. Papers were signed. The world barely noticed.
But the consequences were enormous. Because while the world was on lockdown— They were counting profits.
And you know who wasn’t even in the room? The ones whose land, blood, and future were on the table. The Palestinian People.
They weren’t invited. The weren’t even considered They were bartered away like a failed clause in a contract.
"We were traded for oil futures and 5G towers," said Ahmed Hussein, 41, from exile. "They signed our death warrants with a gold pen."
Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and The GCC made out like bandits in this deal. Israel got what they wanted. Trump got a "Golden Deal" complete with a golden statue. All they had to do was keep quiet. And they did.
And what did The Saudi’s get?